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establishment by Peale

...opened a portrait gallery of Revolutionary heroes in 1782 and in 1786 founded an institution intended for the study of natural law and display of natural history and technological objects. Known as Peale’s Museum (later known as the Philadelphia Museum), it fulfilled Peale’s objective to make wide-ranging collections democratically accessible. The museum grew to vast proportions and was widely...

public museums

...of South Carolina announced its intention of forming a museum. Its purpose was to promote the better understanding of agriculture and herbal medicine in the area. Another early institution, the
Peale Museum, was opened in 1786 in Philadelphia by the painter Charles Willson Peale. The collections rapidly outgrew the space available in his home and were displayed for a time at Independence...